As videogames grow in popularity their influence on
American culture is increasing. Over the last several years, as the
music industry has struggled with sales and movie box office has shrunk,
the videogame business has flourished. The videogame industry now takes
in more revenue annually than does Hollywood from theater box-office
receipts.

From 2000 to 2004, sales of gaming software and hardware
in the United States increased from $6.7 billion to $9.9 billion. In
2005, total sales of videogame hardware, software and accessories rose
to an all-time record high of $10.5 billion. The results surpassed the
old record of $10.3 billion set in 2002 and were 6 percent higher than
the $9.9 billion reported in 2004. Considering only software for
portable game players, such as Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and Sony's
PlayStation Portable, sales rose by 42 percent to $1.4 billion in 2005.
This was the second straight year in which portable game technology
earned in excess of $1 billion. (AP, January 13, 2006; New York Times,
February 6, 2006) And worldwide online game subscription revenue – which
makes up only a fraction of the estimated $29 billion in overall video
game sales in 2005 -- grew 43 percent to $2 billion. Massively
Multiplayer Online games, such as World of Warcraft, accounted
for more than half of the subscription sales in 2005. (AP, March 8,
2006) No end or even slowdown in such spending is in sight;
PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that worldwide spending on videogames
and related materials will reach nearly $55 billion by 2009. (BusinessWeek.com,
October 19, 2005)

With such numbers, it is clear that many people are
spending ever greater amounts of time playing videogames. But the
influence of videogames on American children and families is not merely
an economic one.

The National Institute of
Media and the Family found that 92 percent of all children ages 2 to 17
play video games, and the average child spends 9 hours each week playing
them. The Institute also found that 87 percent of pre-teen and teenage
boys play games rated "M" for Mature by the Entertainment Software
Ratings Board. M-rated games often contain realistic depictions of human
injury and death, mutilation of body parts, rape, sex, profanity and
drug, alcohol and tobacco consumption. (US Fed News, July 25,
2005; Advertising Age online, July 28, 2005; Associated Press,
July 27, 2005)

What is perhaps more surprising – and potentially
disturbing – is the fact that far more adults, many of them parents,
than previously suspected also play such games…and are not immune to the
allure of the violence presented within.

"If you saw her in a grocery store, you would see an old,
Midwestern diabetic with thick glasses leaning on a crutch or shopping
cart…but get her in front of a game, and she becomes a monster."
-- Timothy St. Hilaire, describing his grandmother, 69-year-old Barbara
St. Hilaire, who spends about 50 hours a week playing violent videogames
and whom Timothy has nicknamed "Old Grandma Hardcore." (BusinessWeek.com,
October 19, 2005)

One in three parents play videogames and 80 percent of those play them
with their children, according to a survey conducted by Peter D. Hart
Research Associates. The typical gamer parent is 37 years old and almost
half the group are women. Twenty-seven percent of gamer parents began
playing video games around the same time their children started. (AP,
January 27, 2006) Fifty-three percent of parents in game-equipped
households say they play these games with their children at least once a
month. (Sacramento Bee, January 7, 2006) The same survey found
that 19% of gamers are over age 50.

This is a matter of potential concern. Too many hours spent playing
videogames can foster both social isolation and aggressive behavior,
according to studies cited by the National Institute on Media and the
Family. 68-year-old Liam Murray once played so much electronic Mah-Jong
that a ghost image of the tiles was burned into his monitor. Murray now
plays about 50 hours a week online, sometimes until 3 a.m. (BusinessWeek.com,
October 19, 2005) At a time in which many of the elderly, particularly
those suffering from physical disabilities, are already housebound, such
gaming can contribute to their isolation.

Also of concern is the possibility of increased
aggression and competitiveness between parents and their children, with
such conflict centering around shared videogames.

Clinical psychologist
Erik Fisher, author of the books The Art of Managing Conflict and
The Art of Positive Parenting, warns parents against becoming
obsessive over videogames, and becoming too competitive when playing
against their children. "You don't want to be practicing all night just
so that you can beat them," Fisher says. (Sacramento Bee, January
7, 2006)

"I really got into it when Nintendo came out with Super Mario.
I remember playing with my son all night long, competing against each
other." – "Old Grandma Hardcore" Barbara St.
Hiliare (BusinessWeek.com, October 19, 2005)

Parental obsession with gaming can also set a negative
example to children of priorities and how best to use time. "Kids pay
attention to what we do over what we say," says David Walsh, founder of
the National Institute on Media and the Family. "If I say, 'Don't
bother me, I'm playing games,' and then I get on their backs for playing
too much, what kind of credibility am I going to have?" (Sacramento
Bee, January 7, 2006)

With interest in videogames spanning a spectrum of ages,
it is no surprise that the games' popularity is having an influence on
other entertainment media and even in America's educational
establishment.

On November 8, 2005, game company Players Network Inc. began providing
original gaming lifestyle TV programming exclusively on Comcast's Select
on Demand. The programming includes new talk-show formats,
gaming-education seminars and lifestyle entertainment featuring
celebrities like company spokesman James Caan. (HollywoodReporter.com,
October 11, 2005) And the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science
revealed plans for a new annual television awards program designed to
showcase the year's best video games and the design teams which created
them. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Presents The Year
in Games is set to debut in 2007. Because of videogames' broad
appeal, the special's organizers anticipate that the program will air on
one of the major television networks. (HollywoodReporter.com,
Feb. 13, 2006)

"The audience for the show is much, much broader than
most people think, at least 12-49…It will be entertaining even to those
outside the game crowd." -- Jules Haimovitz,
vice chairman and managing partner of Dick Clark Produtions, co-producer
of The Year In Games Awards show. (HollywoodReporter.com,
Feb. 13, 2006)

Responding both to the opportunity for employment in the
digital media industry and to the tastes of a new generation of
students who have grown up playing videogames, videogame-related
courses are increasingly being offered in colleges around the country.
Nationwide, over 50 schools now offer courses in video game study,
development or design. Some colleges even offer full academic programs
designed around videogames. The Art Institute of Phoenix awards a
bachelor of arts in game art and design, while University of
Pennsylvania offers a master's degree in computer graphics and game
technology. (AP, September 23, 2005)

Although the greatest threat of violent videogames is to
children, adults and parents are obviously not immune to the addictive
thrills of such games. As video game culture increasingly dominates
American society, parents should take careful stock of the influence
which such games may be having, not only on their children, but on
themselves and on our entire culture.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.